Snow & Slush

[uppercase]

I just won't wear good leather shoes in miserable weather.

Why drench the soles and uppers, expose them to salt stains and water marks, then dry them out, and have an altogether lesser shoe than when you walked out the door that morning ?

I don't think that doing that is adding nice age, or doing anything good to a shoe but rather just abusing a beautiful and expensive shoe which is really meant to be worn in dry weather and walk on dry sidewalks.

So what's the solution? Dress boots with a dainite sole ?

That about all I can think of for wear when you're going to be in a dressed up office during the day, then walk out in the rain for 10 blocks to have lunch in a nice restaurant, back to the office again. And if your city is hilly and the sidewalks icy and unshoveled, well a boot with grippy rubber sole is an absolute necessity, even if your walking over to a business meeting.

[Concordia]

If the winter is that bad and if you'll need proper dress shoes for much of the day, Neos offers some excellent solutions. Featherweight, easy to slip on/off, and not at all bad in the snow and slush. I think the model I tried was the Navigator. They offer coverage sufficiently good that you can wear your finest kid suede to the office and still feel dry and comfortable when you arrive.

Otherwise, I think something like Zug or Scotch grain with rubber soles is the thing-- with the precise sole to be determined by how much crud you will be walking through. I don't like Dainite much for daily wear, as the (uncomfortable) spikes wear down quickly and leave you helpless when they're gone. For occasional wear in snow, of course, that doesn't have to be a problem. I have a pair of C&J boots that I got maybe a little too large, but aren't so bad with thick socks.

Other options: I've seen one makeup from G&G on Ridgeway soles, and another notice just came about another makeup of Vass Budapester on commando soles that has some real potential. I'm tempted to try something along those lines for this winter. If you don't need to be lifted 2" above the pavement, you could always do the slim rubber sole from EG, at either single or double thickness. I have a pair of 82 Chelsea oxfords in that configuration that relieve anxiety in more ordinary bad weather. The GlenKaren bentonite cream/polish helps raise confidence in a rainstorm. Whether that also repels water more than regular wax, or will have any impact on the permanence of salt stains, I do not know.

[alden]

Over time as the leather soles on my shoes wear out, I am resoling them with either Dainite or Ridegway rubber soles. My feet stay warmer and dryer with rubber and there is much less bone jarring impact on concrete.

Otherwise for modest bad weather I have a few pairs of "Galway" boots with rubber soles by EG, one pair has a fleece lining as well. These are very handy.

If it comes to really wet weather I am not shy about wearing Le Chameau leather lined rubber boots with zip or without. I have both. They are great.

Cheers

[uppercase]

I figure that the Canadians must know something about bad weather.
Here's a local brand of boots - Viberg:

https://viberg.com/collections/footwear ... 2467460356

[alden]

Concordia

How do you like the Conistons?

UC

Viberg is a great brand but they are working style boots I think. LL Bean Huntin boots are another option for impossible wet and snow.

[DD MacDonald]

Alden, take a pass on the bean boots, and the simple hunter wellies. The heel on the boots is narrow and they are not stable which makes them surprisingly uncomfortable. The heel on the chameaus is strong, wide and stable. Put a pair of super feet insoles into the mortgage-boots, and you are good to go. DDM

[Melcombe]

Good question. Many dress shoes appear scarcely more substantial than carpet slippers.

If you have a decent pair of shoes, you will no doubt be treating them regularly to leather food and proper cleaning and polishing. Of itself, I don't think modest amounts of wetness or even salt should cause fundamental damage. Regular leather food, unforced drying and shoe trees should keep them in good fettle.

If it helps, I can recommend Collonil's Sole Guard. A sodden leather sole will wear much quicker than when dry - this stuff keeps passing puddles at bay quite effectively.

The old axiom stands : there's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. Maybe we can add shoes to that. To cope with winter weather, there are plenty of substantial derby or brogue styles - or even veldtschoen that are suitable for town. Many come with Dainite type soles, but I have a couple with full commando cleated soles, although in town I tend to save these for slush & snow.

Ive just been looking at Herring's (UK-based) website. They have their own branded styles (made by Cheaney, mainly ?) including one called Langdale* - a dainite soled brogue boot. I think I would happily go dancing in the rain in a pair of those !


* Edit : I have just seen these are in their sale and so have felt duty bound to buy a pair. LL really is costing me a fortune - I plainly would never have splurged without this thread's quiet encouragement...

[Concordia]

Concordia

How do you like the Conistons?

I don't wear them enough, because I probably went a half-size too big.

But they are well-designed if you don't mind speed hooks, and very good-looking. I doubt that anyone who likes Crockett & Jones will be disappointed with the overall quality.

I wore them today to confirm my memory of them (1/4 inch of snow). I still don't like Dainite.

[ggreen]

My bad weather solution for many years has been Paraboot. Solid thick rubber soles, reverse welt. My favorites are Avignon and Chambord. Alternatively, JMWeston golf shoe is a bit more refined. I have a pair in brown suede that with periodic spraying holds up better in the rain than most leather shoes, but I wouldn't use these in snow/salt context.

Greg

[alden]

ggreen

I agree completely about the Chambord and Golf. These are two of my absolute favorites. Paraboot and JM Weston are two truly undervalued brands.

I just picked up two pair of Weston's legendary Bottines cambres 705, one pair in brown and the other in black. It is without question the best looking and best made Chelsea boot on the market. Beautiful! But not for snow and ice. But perfect for everything else.

we113918270510P by The London Lounge, on Flickr

Cheers

[bond_and_beyond]

I still don't understand why so few gents wear galoshes. SWIMS make excellent ones in a variety of colours and even have a spiked version for us in the Arctic.

https://www.swims.com/mens/galoshes/

BB

[Man at C&A]

I still don't understand why so few gents wear galoshes. SWIMS make excellent ones in a variety of colours and even have a spiked version for us in the Arctic.

https://www.swims.com/mens/galoshes/

BB

Probably because once Swims have been taken off you have a couple of nasty wet and dirty bits of rubber that you do.... exactly what? with. I wouldn't want to hand them to some poor waiter with a command of 'put these with the coats please'. And as for manhandling the things back on my shoes at the end of the evening.

When braving a Finnish winter I'll stick to boots. Strong, supportive things with proper soles that grip and shed snow. Doesn't matter how smart the place is, because everyone else is in the same boat and has taken the same approach. I dined in Helsinki's Ravintola Vinkkeli this weekend. This place is about as good as it gets in Scandinavia, and it attracts a clientele to match. Every male diner turned out in jacket and collar and all with sensible boots on.

[ggreen]

Michael,

Completely agree with you. Both JMWeston and Paraboot are very undervalued. I always felt that JMWeston was a very honest shoe. They don't try to show finishing that is better than what's on the inside and put "pretend bespoke" features. Their leathers do not wear out. Now, breaking in their triple sole shoes is a different question entirely. I don't think light weights like me should even attempt it.

The last and toe shape of Bottines cambres 705 are so well balanced these are simply fantastic. And no "fake age" on them as is so popular these days!

Greg

[Kayak81]

This is a topic I've been thinking about this topic for a few years now. G&G made up a pair of ankle boots for me, patterned after an LL boot that Michael designed several years ago. It has taken a while, as for some reason my shoe last didn't fit well in a boot, and they had to redo it entirely. In any event, the last pair came out great and I'm about to get 2 more pairs made up.

Dainite soles really don't work for me. They're great when new, but in my experience, the studs wear down rapidly and then become even more slippery than leather. I have difficulty walking across a marble floor in them, let alone a slick street. Tony suggested double Wensum soles for my boots and so far they're great. The top layer is leather, so it gives me the look and feel of leather, but the traction of rubber. It's a softer rubber that Dainite, so I find that it has a lot more traction. Here's a discussion I started about rubber soles a couple of years ago:
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=11415&p=75575&hili ... waY#p75575.

While my Wensum boots are great when the weather is good but the ground wet, I wouldn't want to wear them in a downpour or out in the snow or slush. So my next pair is going to be Russian Reindeer with a Ridgeway sole and a storm welt. I had originally asked for cordovan, but for some reason Tony doesn't like it, and he suggested the reindeer instead.

I've also though about fleece-lined boots, but others have suggested that getting boots sized to fit thick wool socks is a better option.

[alden]

Hi Kayak

When the Dainites get slick and slippery, it just means its time to change them.

My doctor suggested I could use some cushion so I have been resoling all my shoes with rubber soles, some Ridgeway and some Dainite. I like them both. My cobbler, after the resole of my new 705s, offered that "once you go to rubber, it's hard to go back to leather." He's right.

I have fleece lining in a pair of EG Galway boots, just in the upper, and they are just great. If you size a shoe large and wide to wear warmer socks, you could put an insole in them to take up some space when you need to wear lighter socks, but large and wide shoes are really as bad as short and narrow. That being said I would never buy a fully lined with fleece shoe.

Cheers